William vine



cited mes parte torpe.

Letters Patent No. 96,642, dated November 9, 1869.

IMPROVE!) KNIFE-CLEANER.

V The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patentand making part of `the same The nature of my invention consists in the arrangement of the metallic wheels or disks that hold the leathers, with serrated o r corrugated sides, to the ribs,- and the mode of forming the blocks, to support and hold the knives.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the same.

The Drawing.

Figure l is a view of the knife-clea'ner.

Figure 2 is a view of the knife-cleaner, witlnthe top raised, to show the'interior.

Figure 3, a face of part of the ribbed disk.

Figure 4,' a fulcruui-block, to hold the knife, (enlarged.)

The knife-cleaner now in use, and which I patented in 1846, is imperfect in its construction, inasmuch as the leathers that are wedged in between the vribs ofthe disks, will fly out in revolving, caused in consequence Aof being exposed to the action of' the dry atmosphere, or the warmth of the kitchen-fire, &c;, for the leathers and wedges will, in time, shrink and loosen, more or less. This is, and always has been, the principal drawback to the effectiveness ofthe machine, otherwise a very convenient and useful one.

To obviatethis imperfection-is the-object of this, my present application.

The body ofthe knife-cleaner, figs. l and 2, is com posed of a case, A, withwood sides, supported by a frame or legs, vwith a sheet-iron periphery, to enclose the two iron wheels B B, which are faced with strips of leather, wedged edgewise between the ribs C.

The two wheels B B are on one shaft, D2, and are placed face to face, between which the blades of the knives are inserted, through holes in the' periphery of the case.

v I make the two wheels B B of cast-iron, in the usual manner; but .the ribs C of thel face or disk, to receive t-he leathers E, and wedges Il between. them, instead of being plain on their sides, as heretofore made, I serrare or corrngaf-e 'ou each side, as shown in the drawing, 'fig'. 3, so that when I fasten the two leathers E. E, with a wedge, F, between them, thel sei-rations will punctnate the sideiof each ofthe -pass leathers, so that they will always hold fast, if the wedge or leather should loosen by shrinkage, or otherwise, and the centrifugal force,-causedby the quick revolution of' the wheels, cannot throw them out forward, and there' is no danger of their coming out infront. I

Also, in the plain-sided ribs, it requiredthe wedge to be -driven so tight vthat it frequently burstror `cracked the rim of' the wheels in wedgiug, as theyare necessarily made-of cast-iron, light in pattern, both for economy and Weight.

Now, to support the knives when the blade is insei-ted through the holes C2, in the periphery of the frame and the blocks, it` requires a projecting stop, D, outside ofthe iron rim, for the handle of the knife to lean against, and a sort of' fulcrum-bearing, El, near the 'edge blade is passed in i and they revolve, the pressure on -eacl1 side ofthe blade will naturally tend to draw in the knife, were it not held and resisted by the leather fulcrum or bearing E2, and of the block and upper stock I), as shown in the drawing, flg. 3.

Several devices have been tried for this purpose,

but none so eflicient as this, there being, by constant use, a great deal of friction, caused by the polishingpowder on the stopping-parts.

Metal stops have been tried, but the friction makes metal injurious'to the finished handle of the knives, and metal also becomes smooth and slippery, and will not hold the knife rmly'to prevent slipping in.

My improvement .consists lin the formation of' fulcrum-blocks o r bearings, as shown in drawing, figs. 3 and 4containing a hole, c, through the'same, with A the front part ofv the hole c covered with a firm strip of leather, G, for the edge of the knife to bear against, and the upper stop D, also covered with'a strip of leather, H, for the finished handle of the knife to rest against, the t-wo leathers forming what I call the fulora.

Thse falo-a win non the knife at any required.

distance in. if, at a short distance, to clean thepoint, or in up to the shoulder, and on the top ot' the hole of the block, a nd between it and the iron rim is a thin piece of' leather, I, with a -islit init, for the knife to through, to prevent the dust from flying out; also, at the bottom of' the hole is another thin piece of leather, K, for the same purpose.

lhe ihlcrum-blocksare fastened in their position by. means of screws through thecase-sides, and also screws through the upper stop H and the-metal case, and are intended to be adjustable and removable, .for repairing or replacing.

These improvements are necessary to make the of' the wheels, so that when the between the leathers of the wheels, t

rotary knife-cleaner one ot' the most; useful and convenienty articles for household-use, `steamboats, hotels, ne,

I do not claim the general arrangement of the knife-cleaner, but only the improvements, as herein stated.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The disk B, provided with serrated or corrugated ribs C, when used in connection with the Wedges F, for listening the leathers to the ribs, constructed and arranged to operate as herein described, for the purpose speciiied.` Y

2. In combination with theabove, the adjustable and removable fulcrnmblocks D H, and leather bearing constructed as herein described, for the purpose specified.

WM. VINE.

Witnesses A. W. VINE, A. SELLECK. 

